Ryan Kesler. Keslord. Beast Mode. Nude Kesler (or Ryan Kessler if you’re anybody outside of Vancouver). He goes by many names in this market, but the names he has been hearing most lately are more along the lines of Diving Kesler, Kesler the Kartwheeling Klown, or “HEY YOU, STOP DIVING AND SCORE ALREADY!” Kesler, a year removed from having one of the strongest post season performances in Canuck history, has struggled to reach that same level this year. This would be forgivable to most, considering we don’t truly know how well he recovered from off season surgery, but the thing that is upsetting fans is not just his lack of production, it is the fact that Kesler seems to be reverting to an older version of Kesler. A version of Kesler that spends far too much time trying to sell penalties and getting into verbal wars with the opposition, instead of the Ryan Kesler that eats Nashville babies for breakfast.

Now, far be it from me to tell people how to feel about a certain player. Lord knows I have railed on Canucks players in the past, so I am not trying to climb on a high horse of any kind here (One day Aaron Rome is going to punch me out. This I know.) But I am going to state for the record, that I believe in Ryan Kesler.

Do I like the diving? Not really. Any time a player dives in hockey a small part of my soul dies that I have to quickly replace by watching Trevor Linden smash Jeff Norton through the glass. Do I like the chirping after the whistle? To be honest I don’t care if a player does that, as long as he doesn’t take a penalty. Do I wish Kesler was scoring more? Damn straight I do. That Keslord t-shirt I have loses its value on e-Bay when the team is down 0-3.

But here is the thing. Ryan Kesler is not a lazy player. Kesler is not playing like crap because he doesn’t care. Ryan Kesler is not chirping at people after the whistle because he doesn’t want to win the Cup. Ryan Kesler is not trying to draw penalties because he wants to try and get on Dancing With the Stars. If there is one thing fans in Vancouver know it’s that Ryan Kesler wants to win. Badly.

This is a guy who when he entered the league had a wrist shot that made Mason Raymond’s shot look like a laser beam space cannon. When people needed to clean their windows they would get Ryan Kesler to shoot pucks at them all day, as the gentle caress of his shots would slowly rub the windows clean. Kesler, realizing this, decided to dedicate himself to improving his shot and as the legend goes, shot hundreds of pucks a day in his garage over one summer and now owns one of the better shots on the team.

Look further back at his draft day, and you will see that he was thought to have a career peak of no higher than a 3rd liner. His offensive output was considered a non factor. Plus he had really short hair.

As we all know, Kesler managed to become an elite 2nd line center, had a career high 41 goals last year, and grew some crazy troll doll looking hair, breaking all the boundaries placed on him from draft day.

This is why I fully support Ryan Kesler this year. I don’t know if anybody on the team took last years loss harder than Kesler. I know he is dying to win a Stanley Cup and if there is one man on the team who could will a city to a Cup, it would be Ryan. And it is because I know Kesler is willing to kill himself to win a Cup that I am going to give him some slack. Yes, Kesler can drive me crazy with his jerk tactics on the ice, but you know what, he’s our jerk. Kesler is a far cry from being Matt Cooke circa 2003. He is just being that annoying friend who takes jokes too far sometimes. “I slept with your mother. Twice.” We all have that friend, and we all support that friend, because that’s what friends do. So when Kesler dives, I simply mutter “Oh Kesler, you idiot” and then wait patiently to cheer him on when he scores a goal.

I am not suggesting anybody should feel bad for getting on Kesler’s case for diving. By all means, yell and shake your fist at him as much as you want. I agree it would be awesome if Kesler took the Trevor Linden approach to hockey and played honorably at all times (and smashed more people straight through the glass). Regardless, I will support Kesler, diving and and all. Even if the Canucks get swept, I know Kesler probably did everything in his power to help the Canucks prevail. Kesler is the kind of guy you don’t bet against, because he will go to amazing lengths to win, and I want to support that.

And if I know one thing about Kesler, it’s that he usually gets what he wants in life. Because he slept with my mother. Twice. (I kid. I pulled a “Kesler” there by taking a joke too far. Score!)

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